An exposé of fragmented trading platforms, poor governance, and exploitative practices in today's capital marketsCapital markets have undergone a dramatic transformation in the past two decades. Algorithmic high-speed supercomputing has replaced traditional floor trading and human market makers, while centralized exchanges that once ensured fairness and transparency have fragmented into a dizzying array of competing exchanges and trading platforms. Darkness by Design exposes the unseen perils of market fragmentation and "dark" markets, shedding critical light on how the redistribution of power and influence has created new winners and losers in capital markets. Essential reading for anyone with money in the stock market, this compelling book challenges the conventional view of markets and reveals the troubling implications of unchecked market power for the health of the global economy and society as a whole.